The Beginning
by limbo-gal
Summary: Issy, the flirtatious blonde, Amber, the thoughtful feminist, Sky, the heavy sleeper, Miranda and Jo, the not so identical french twins and Lily, the founder of the I Hate James Potter club. Friends? You bet. Quite possibly permenant haitus.
1. The Letter

**CHAPTER: 1 -The Letter**

Eleven-year-old Lily Evans woke with a start, she'd had that dream again, well nightmare really.

A women with thick, shoulder-length red hair and emerald green eyes, an older from of herself had been cradling a baby. A handsome young man with very untidy black hair and soft chocolate coloured eyes had been standing behind her beaming at the two of them. Suddenly there was a bang at the door and the man who Lily assumed was her husband yelled something at Lily as he ran to the door. The man then started fighting against a snakelike man with livid red eyes. To Lily they appeared to be shooting beams of light at each other with what looked like carefully polished bits of wood. The snakelike man shot a beam of green light at her husband before advancing on her. Lily would watch as her 'husband' would fall to the ground, dead. Lily would awaken here. How queer was the dream to Lily, in fact she had been pondering it most of the summer.

Lily rolled over to face her alarm clock. She groaned. Five in the morning, what a glorious time. She tried desperately to fall back to sleep, but failed. Giving up she lay on her back staring at the ceiling thinking about her dream and its meaning.

"Lily!" her mum called from downstairs, "Lily, there's mail for you!"

Lily reluctantly got out of bed and grabbed her dressing-gown as she headed downstairs. Her mother was already up and was serving breakfast in the kitchen.

"Here." her mother passed a letter to her and continued making breakfast. The envelope had writing on the front written in fancy green ink:

_Miss L. Evans_

_The Third Bedroom_

_12b Lingral Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

Lily turned the letter over and saw that it was sealed with red wax. It was bearing a letter 'H' and was surrounded by a snake, a lion, a raven and a badger. She tore it open and inside were three pieces of parchment. She opened the first and read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, _

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

_Dear_ _Miss Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 20 August._

_Yours sincerely,_

Andrea Abloy

Deputy Headmistress

Lily stared at the letter opening and shutting her mouth a couple of times before looking disbelievingly up at her mother.

"Well," asked her mother, "Who is it from?"

Lily didn't reply she just stared at the letter some more before her mother snatched it out of her hands. Her mother proceeded to read the letter under her breath, her brow furrowed.

"This must be a joke." was all her mother could come up with.

"Wait, look at this." Lily pulled at a second piece of parchment and read it out loud to her mother.

"_Dear Miss Evans, due to your muggle parentage and lack of knowledge of the wizarding worldthis letter has been enclosed to answer any queries you may have and to give directions to Diagon Alley_." Lily paused and looked up at her mother, who's eyes were wide but just nodded for Lily to continue.

"It goes on and says stuff about owls and teachers and subjects...and here it says how to get to Diagon Alley!" she pointed to the last paragraph of the letter excitedly.

"But what about St Agathas?"

"Mu-um!"

"What about Sophie? And Andrea? And Mickey and Cheryl?"

"But mum, you know that Mickey's parents have alreadydecided to move to Australia, Cheryl's going to Ashbury, and you _know,_ mum, that Andy and Soph are best friends. What's that saying? ... yes, three's a crowd!"

"But you'd make new friends, Lily!" her mother insisted, clearly losing the argument.

"Exactly! New friends at _Hogwarts_!" exclaimed Lily triumphantly.

"But ... but ...."

"C'mon mum, can I go? Can I? Can I?" Lily was bouncing up and down when her father entered the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" asked Mark Evans.

"I'm a witch!"

Her father raised his eyebrows and his gaze drifted over to her mother, who nodded slowly.

"My wonderful little girl!" Mark smiled as he brought Lily into a big hug.

When Lily had finished hugging her mother and father she went upstairs and lay down on her bed, the letter in her hand. She re-read the first letter and started reading the other two pieces of parchment. The third read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

Uniform

_First year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon_ _hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

Set books

_All students should have a copy of each of the_ _following:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble_

Other Equipment

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

Lily grinned broadly, she just knew she was going to like it at Hogwarts.

* * *

"Lily! Andrea and Sophie are here!" Lily's mother called from downstairs. Lily hurried down the stairs, brushing her hair as she went. 

"Coming!"

"Hey guys!" Lily called to her friends.

"Hi Lily." they chorused as they clambered into Andrea's mum's car and went to the pool.

"So Lil, you got your uniform for St Agatha's yet?" Sophie asked.

"Um...no..."

"Why?" asked a puzzled Andrea, "Are you changing schools or something?"

"Um...yeh...I am."

"Really?" asked Andy.

Why?" whined Sophie.

"Um...I have to go to this boarding school."

"What's it called?" inquired Andrea.

"Um.....I can't remember, I only go the letter a couple of days ago and on Friday mum and I are going into London to buy my uniform and school books." said Lily timidly.

"Wow....a boarding school.." said Sophie, her eyes wide.

"It's co-ed right?" Andrea asked, always convinced that every school should have boys even though, unfortunately, St Agatha's had none.

Lily nodded.

"Do you know anyone else who's going there?"

Lily shook her head sadly.

"Oh well, you're sure to make friends." Andrea said encouragingly.

Lily smiled at her friend, "I'll definently miss you guys."

"We'll miss you too, Lil." said Sophie, flashing Lily a smile, which changed almost instantly into a frown.

"An-dy!" whined Sophie as Andy crushed her as they went round a corner.

"Corners!" Andy said happily, as she squished Lily.

"Dam you, sitting in the middle!" said a mock angry Sophie.

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_Hope you like my story and would grace me with a review! It's my first fanfic -so be kind! ._

_laters_

**_Limbo-gal_**


	2. Freak And Friends

**CHAPTER: 2 -Freak and Friends**

"What?!" Lily heard Petunia's shrieks from downstairs.

"Freak! I told you mum, she's a freak!"

"Petunia Jennifer Evans," began Mrs Evans sternly, "I will not tolerate your name-calling, go to your room this instance." Lily heard her sister stomping up the stairs and as she walked past Lily's room she muttered 'freak'. Lily just slammed the door shut and collapsed on her bed. She wasn't going to the same school as Petunia, she was going to a boarding school for witches and wizards. She was going to a boarding school for witches and wizards and Petunia wouldn't be there! She smiled to herself as she stared at the ceiling.

She turned to face her calendar, August 27th 1975, she had replied to her letter straight away; confirming her attendance. She had had her 11th birthday 12 days ago, and was going to go to Diagon Alley with her mother tomorrow.

* * *

"Lily dear, are you sure this is the right place?" Lily's mother inquired as she looked around the grubby old pub.

"Positive. It says to ask the bar tender." Lily said.

"Excuse me." asked Lily's mother.

"Hogwarts?" asked the bar-tender kindly, staring down at Lily, who nodded excitedly.

"Right this way." he led Lily and her mother out side and tapped five bricks with what Lily thought must be a wand.

"There you are, Diagon Alley!" and the bar tender left the pair to stroll around Diagon Alley.

"The letter says to go to Gringotts first -the wizard bank- and exchange muggle money for wizarding money." Lily explained as she walked with her mother into the white marble building.

Her mother exchanged some money and made inquiries about a vault. When they finally left Gringotts they had a vault full of one thousand galleons and pockets bursting with money waiting to be spent.

Lily bought all her books and equipment fist and entered the robe store opposite Flourish and Blotts.

"Hey, you a first year?" asked a tall brunette.

Lily nodded.

"Me too!" replied the girl enthusiastically.

"My names Ella, by the way, Ella McMorri. That's Stephanie, Emma, Emirial, Laura, and the short blondie over there is Lucinda." The girl pointed to the five girls behind her in turn as she said their names; all very quickly.

"We all hope to be in Ravenclaw." stated the girl called Emma.

"What about you? Which house do you want to be in?" inquired the girl called Lucinda.

"I-I don't know..." Lily muttered.

"You muggle-born then?" asked Ella frowning.

"Muggle?" asked Lily, feeling stupider by the minute.

"Non-magic people." explained Emirial.

"Er...yeh...I am." Lily said timidly.

"Don't worry about it, I am too." said Emma encouragingly.

"The four houses are; Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and," Lucinda shivered, "Slytherin."

"You don't want to be in Slytherin, horrible that is." said Laura.

"Everyone says the smart ones go to Ravenclaw." said Emirial proudly, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder.

"And I've heard that your supposed to be brave to be in Gryffindor." added Lucinda.

"My sister says that the Hufflepuff are a load of duffers, but Hufflepuff is fine if you ask me." said Laura shrugging. "Kirsten's her sister and she's a third year Ravenclaw." explained Ella, on seeing Lily's confused face.

"We better be going, we've all got our robes." said Emma.

"Yeh." agreed Laura and Steph.

"Well, cya at Hogwarts!" said Ella as she exited the store.

"Bye!" said the others.

"Bye." said Lily timidly as she began to walk to where she would get her robes fitted.

Once her robes were fitted Lily continued to Ollivanders, the wand store. She entered the store with her mother.

"I'll go buy you an owl, honey, while you get your wand, ok?" Lily's mother said.

"Yeh, I want a small brown one." Lily instructed her mother.

"Ok, dear." she gave her daughter a quick kiss, which Lily hastily rubbed off, and departed from the store.

Lily sat down in a small chair in a corner of the shop and waited, until an old man came out from behind one of the many shelves.

"Good day, Miss Evans." said the man.

"H-hello." said Lily quietly, wonderingly slightly at the fact that this stranger knew her name.

The man then proceeded to pull out four boxes off the shelves and place them on the front counter.

"Here." he held out a wand which Lily took.

"Well, give it a wave!" said the man impatiently.

Lily waved the wand and in the process broke the small vase next to the window. She hurriedly placed the wand back in the box on the desk.

"Not to worry, we'll find the right one. Here." he handed her another wand.

The moment it touched Lily's fingertips she felt warmth spread through her body and when she waved the wand it emitted red and gold sparks.

"Yes, yes, very good! Ten and a quarter inches, swishy, made of willow. Nice for charm work and very powerful, mind you." the man said as he put the wand back in the box and handed it back to Lily.

"Good day, Miss Evans." he said with a nod of his head and headed to the back of his store.

Lily exited the store carrying some of her packages and her new wand.

"Lily!" called her mother. In her left hand was a cage and inside was a small, brown owl, with deep blue eyes.

"Isn't she beautiful?" cooed Lily's mother. "What are you going to call her?"

Lily stared at the owl and then at her mother. "Hazel."

* * *

**_REVIEWS:_**

_**EyesofEmerald** - Thanx heaps for your review and go LJ fics!_

_**Locks of Gold **- I _**KNOW **_myfic isn't a mary sue fic, considering I know what's instore for all of my characters. But thank-you for your review -it just makes the count higher!_

_laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	3. Journey

**CHAPTER: 3 -Journey**

Lily and her mother stayed at the Leaky cauldron over night and went to Kings Cross station the following morning.

"What platform is it, dear?" asked Lily's mother.

Lily pulled the ticked out of her pocket. "Nine and three quarters?" she mumbled, looking up at her mother. Her mother looked at the ticket frowning. While Lily took in her surroundings.

"Mum! Mum! Look over there!" she pointed to a group of people, a man, a woman and a small girl with very tanned skin.

"Excuse me," Lily's mother said to the man.

"Yes?" the man had soft grey eyes and dark brown hair.

"My daughter, Lily, is...er...new this year and is having trouble finding the platform..."

The man smiled kindly at Lily, "Allysa's new as well." he gestured to the small girl who was twirling her dark brown hair around her finger. "Allysa."

The girl turned and looked up. "Mmm?"

"This is Lily...er..."

"Evans." Lily's mother helped.

"Lily Evans, she's a first year as well. Might be good if you showed her the barrier."

The girl nodded and smiled at Lily. "Follow me."

The girl, Allysa, began walking towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She faced the barrier and started running towards it and just when Lily thought she was going to crash the girl disappeared.

Lily blinked.

"Off you go." said Lily's mother. Lily hugged her mother goodbye and ran through the barrier. When she was centimeters away from the barrier she closed her eyes, anticipating the impact.

CRASH!

Instead of running into the barrier Lily had run into a boy with untidy black hair and chocolate coloured eyes.

She gasped. The man from her dreams, it was unmistakably a younger version of him. Luckily the boy didn't notice Lily's staring and just put his trunk and owl back on his trolley and walked away after yelling at her to watch where she's going. Lily picked herself up.

"That prat, James Potter." she heard Allysa mutter as she helped Lily place her trunk on back on her trolley.

"Pardon?" asked Lily.

"That prat, who you crashed into, was James Potter. He's parents are well known aurors and they're really rich. He's still a prat, though and then there's his best mate, Sirius Black...." she shook her head darkly. "Don't get me started on Black." she sighed. "Better look for a compartment then."

"Yeh." Lily nodded.

"Come on."

The two girls went in search for a compartment. The only one they could find held two identical twins speaking rapidly in french.

"Um...can we share this compartment with you?" Allysa asked.

"Wha- oh, I mean, yeh." one of the twins said as she looked at Allysa.

"My names Allysa by the way, and this is Lily" Allysa said brightly.

"Hi, I'm Jo and that's my sister, Miranda." Jo nodded in the direction of her sister.

"So, what house do you want to be in?" Allysa said making a wild stab at conversation.

"I dunno, maybe Gryffindor." Jo said absent mindedly.

"I want to be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. What about you Lily?" Allysa asked.

"Ravenclaw I guess, but Gryffindor or Hufflepuff are fine by me." Lily said shyly.

"So where ab -" Allysa didn't get to finish her question because three girls suddenly burst into their compartment.

"Hey Lily!" Lucinda said brightly.

"Hello Lucinda." said Lily politely.

"It's Lucy." Lucy said in an undertone.

"Who are your friends?" Stephanie asked as she noticed the other people in the compartment.

"Allysa, Miranda and Jo."

"Hi!" Stephanie, Emirial and Lucy said in unison.

"Hi." the other girls muttered in reply.

"Mind if we stay? Everywhere else is full." said Lucy looking pleadingly up at them.

"Sure." said Allysa happily.

The rest of the journey was quite uneventful, with Allysa talking happily with Emirial, Stephanie and Lucy had gone off to find Lucy's sister, and Miranda and Jo speaking in french again. After about an hour, when Lucy and Steph had returned, a girl who looked about fifteen came into the compartment after about an hour os so into the journey.

"Hi Lucinda." Said the girl in a mock baby voice.

"Hello Sarah." Said Lucy exasperatedly.

"Just to let you know that you should all get changed into your robes now." and the girl didn't wait for an answer and left the compartment.

"My sister." said Lucy in an undertone. "She's in Hufflepuff, and unfortunately is a prefect." and the girls began to get changed.

When the train finally arrived at the station a bodiless voice told everyone to leave their trunks, owls and other large belongings on the train. The five girls got off the train and followed the crowd of first years. Someone behind Lily squealed and Lily looked around to see a frightened, very hurt Miranda and a very giggly Jo.

"Don't worry Miranda, I'll protect ya!" Jo began marching towards the giant-man in mock bravery, as Allysa and Emirial broke into a fit of giggles.

"Firs' years, over 'ere, firs' years, this way!" boomed the giant-man.

The frightened looking first years followed him to the edge of a huge lake that was dotted with small boats.

"No more then five to a boat!" boomed the man.

The six girls settled into a boat and when it jerked forwards Emirial nearly fell out but was caught by Lucy and Jo.

* * *

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**Lilykins** - i'm not really sure why i put in the part with Sophie and Andrea, it was a bit random but oh well. I don't mind how long they are! and yay im on someones favourites! thanx for reviewing!_

_**RoyalTearDrop** - thanx for your review!_

_ **Moony's Angel** - heres the next chapter, so please don't hex me! . thanx for reviewing!_

_**stephanos** - thanx steph._

_**kirst** - thanx kirst._

_**EyesofEmerald** - lol, my name _is _Emma. Yeah, I'm heaps sorry about the 'internet lingo', I think i spend too much time on msn... . blushes you think I have great writing talents -yay!! thanx heaps for your review!_

_**Unimyth** - thanx for your review and lol, the birthday was just random... but if it makes my reviewers happy..._

_laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	4. Sorting

_**A/N:** I'm going to apologise now for using J.K's 'McGonagall Speech' and J.K's 'sorting song'. I'm too lazy and un-creative to make one up. Sorry!_

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER: 4 -Sorting**

There were many 'ooos' and 'ahhs' as the castle came into view. As the first years got out of the boats the giant-man lead them up a grand staircase and left them with a very stern looking teacher.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank-you, Hagrid."

She lead them along a corridor and into a small room next to the great hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room.

The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Emirial's hair, which was very messy and tangled due to her near fall out of the boat.

"I shall return when I am ready for you." said Professor McGonagall, "Please wait quietly." and with that she left the chamber.

A loud babble broke out amongst the students who were talking excitedly or nervously with their new made friends. Allysa, Lily and Jo were running their fingers through Emirial's long black hair in an attempt to make it straight.

"I wonder what we are going to do?" Jo asked Lucy, who shrugged in reply. She was one among few who weren't afraid of the sorting ahead.

"Come now, we are ready for you." said a stern voice somewhere to the left of Lily. Professor McGonagall had returned, "Form one line and follow me."

Lily got into the line behind Miranda and the first years were lead into the Great Hall. Many 'wows' and 'cools' could be heard behind Lily as she too looked up at the ceiling. They stopped at the front of the hall and many of the older students stared at the hat, so Lily stared at it too.

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers back,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing in your head_

_The sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You may belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindor apart;_

_You may belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning_,

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To archive their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The hall burst into applause as the hat finished it's song.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit in the stool to be sorted." explained Professor McGonagall.

"Andrews, Dominic." A tall boy with light brown hair ran forwards.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Black, Sirius." A tall, handsome boy with black hair and dark eyes came forward.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bones, Patricia."

"RAVENCLAW!"

Daly, Andrew became the first Hufflepuff...

....and too soon it was Lily's turn.

"Evans, Lillian." Lily stumbled forwards and put the hat on her head.

'Hmm' said a little voice in her head, 'hmm, a thirst to prove yourself, a quality of Slytherin, in fact, Slytherin would do you good, don't you agree?'

"No!" Lily whispered hoarsely. She couldn't be put in Slytherin after all she'd heard about that house.

'No? You sure? Well I guess we'll have to put you somewhere else. Let's see, a great mind full of knowledge, maybe Ravenclaw, aha, interesting ... very interesting ... _bravery _hidden well, but not forgotten. You still sure about Slytherin? You could be great -'

"No! Please! Anything but Slytherin!" Lily whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

'I guess there's only one other option, GRYFFINDOR!' The hat screamed the last word to the rest of the hall and Lily went and sat down opposite Sirius Black, wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve. Lily looked up at the other people being sorted, hoping, wishing for a friend to join her in Gryffindor.

"Justy, Laura."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Katyns, Lucinda."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Lang, Emirial." She strolled forward elegantly, looking like she was gliding over to the stool.

And then she tripped, nearly falling flat on her face, but she managed to get to her feet still smiling.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Lily uncrossed her finger and sighed, two down. Two perfectly good could-be friends, down.

She looked up again when she heard the hat scream out Gryffindor and was joined by a short girl with large hazel eyes, short, wavy, mousey brown hair and freckles scattered across her skin.

"Amber Lorearmi." She said as she sat down next to Lily, smiling warmly

"Lily Evans." said Lily, returning the smile. They both nodded and continued to watch the sorting.

"Lupin, Remus." Lily looked up to see a very timid boy come forwards, a look of pure terror on his face. His dark blonde hair was falling, limp around his face and his large hazel eyes were wide, with bags underneath. Overall he looked very sickly indeed. He stumbled forward to the stool, slowly sitting down, griping the seat tightly.

"GRYFFINDOR!" A huge look of relief swept across his face as he jogged forward to the Gryffindor table, sliding into the seat next to Sirius Black.

"Mance, Isabelle." The tall blonde walked forward amongst cat-calls and wolf whistles, her long blonde hair swishing behind her. She let a small smile escape her lips before the hat was placed on her head, covering most of her face, including her sparkling blue eyes. In Lily's opinion she looked like a Barbie doll.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Matthews, Allysa."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"McMorri, Ella."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Paltrow, Stephanie."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Pettigrew, Peter." He was fairly short, with blonde hair plastered to his head and watery blue eyes that looked ready to spill with tears. He reminded Lily strongly of a pig.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, James." Lily looked up anxiously when she heard his name. He strolled forward, trying not to grin, his chocolate-brown eyes glowing with mischief.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Pragasty, Sky." The very pretty Asian scuttled forward nervously, fidgeting with her hands. Her black hair sat neatly on her shoulders, her small black eyes darting around.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Walker, Joanna."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Walker, Miranda."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

And finally. "Zabiv, Axel."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Processor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Lily stared down at her plate, boy was she hungry.

The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore got up and was beaming at his students.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" and he sat back down. Everyone cheered loudly and then a babble of talk broke out.

Lily looked down at the dishes of food in front of her."Wow!" she said softly as she stared, wide-eyed at all the food and then helped herself to a few pieces of chicken.

"Name's Isabelle Mance, youse can call me Issy though." The girl smiled at the other five girls, including Lily, with her perfectly white, straight teeth.

"Amber Lorearmi." said the girl that Lily had met before.

"Jo Walker." said one of the twins enthusiastically. She and her twin had deep blue eyes, pale skin and shiny black hair that came to their waist. "And this clone, here, is my twin sister, Miranda." she started eating again as the other girl introduced herself.

"Sky Pragasty." The girl mumbled as she tucked her black hair behind her ear.

"Lily Evans." Lily said as she shovelled some salad into her mouth.

Little did they know that this was the start of a wonderful friendship.

* * *

**_REVIEWS:_**

_**Lilykins** - glad that you liked the crash! thanx for reviewing!_

_laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	5. Balderdash

**CHAPTER: 5 -Balderdash**

Slowly the desserts faded away, leaving behind the shiny gold plates and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet.

"Ahem - just a few notices before we start the term. First should note that the forest on the edge of the grounds is forbidden to all students. And a few of our older students would do well to remember as well." his eyes flashed over to a group of girls at the end of the gryffindor table, who exchanged glances or in some cases, grins.

"Also students should note, that a Whomping Willow has been planted in our grounds this year. I would advise anyone who wishes to keep their limbs to stay away from the willow. I also would like to introduce the new caretaker, Mr Filch. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing should contact Madam Hirsch. And finally, I'd like to introduce our new Head Boy and Girl, Marianne Woodward and Daniel Wiley, and the Deputy Heads, Victoria Parker and Stephen Plates." this was followed by loud applause, as a very pretty girl with dark brown wavy hair at the end of the Gryffindor table, waved and smiled.

"Yes, yes, now off to bed with you all!"

"First years! Follow me!" called out a tall brunette girl, with a shiny prefect badge visible on her chest.

"Come this way, please!" called out a tall, black-haired boy -the male prefect.

Lily and the others followed them up a staircase. Miranda and her sister once again were speaking in french while Lily and the others talked about blood.

"I'm pure." said Isabelle slowly.

"I'm half. My mum's the muggle, and her sister -my aunt- is a witch, so she sorta already knew about it." Amber said casually.

"I'm pure." said Sky simply.

"What about you Lily? half-half? muggle? pure?" Amber asked.

"I'm...muggle-born." Lily said slowly.

"Oh ok, don't worry, me, Issy and Sky will tell you everything you need to know." Amber said kindly.

Meanwhile they had already walked all the way up to what appeared to be the entry to the common-room. A large portrait with a fat lady, wearing a pink silk dress.

"You must have a password to get into the common-room, so make sure you remember them. They change roughly once a month so make sure you know when it's been changed." explained the female prefect.

"Balderdash." said the male prefect and he lead the first years into the common-room. "Girls' dormitories up the stairs and to your left, boys same on your right." The red-headed prefect motioned in the two directions before leaving them to go to their dormitories.

"Wow." was all Amber could get out as she looked around their dormitory.

"Hey look! Our trunks have already been brought up!" Sky said, amazed, causing both Amber and Issy to roll their eyes and shake their heads at Sky's simplicity.

"Hello." said one of the twins suddenly, causing Lily to jump.

"Oh Hello." said Amber. "Sorry, what did you say your name was, again?"

"Joanna, but please call me Jo." Joanna said smiling. The girls were soon talking with one another about classes and many other things.

"I wish Allysa, Ella, Lucy and the others had been in our house." said Lily, sighing.

"Yes." agreed Miranda.

"Your background's french, right?" Lily inquired.

"Yes. My fam'y use' to live in Pari', 'n zen Papa got work 'ere when I was nine."

"Oh." said Lily, quite surprised at the strong accent Miranda carried compared to her sister's non-existent one.

"I was originally going to go to Beauxbatons. It is anofa large school in Europe." Miranda said sadly.

"Did you want to go there?" Lily asked kindly.

"Oui. Ma cousine, Fleur attend zat school, she is zeying zat it is a trei bien school." Miranda's English mixed with French was quite confusing.

"How come your sister's English is a bit better than yours?" Lily asked slowly.

"She is going to eenglish school, and I is going to french school." Miranda said pointing at her sister and then herself.

"Ooh." Lily said, finally understanding, "Why did you go to different schools?" Lily asked confused.

"Because, she is wanting to learn better eenglish while I is wanting to not." Miranda explained.

"Why?" Lily inquired.

"She is 'aving eenglish friend, so she is wanting to speak to 'er more good." Miranda said.

"Ok, well I dunno about you but I need to sleep,.so goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight Lily." everyone replied in unison.

The six girls began to fall asleep, one by one.

* * *

The next morning the Lily awoke to find Miranda already awake and dressed, Amber in the shower and Joanna dragging a very annoyed, very tired, Issy out of bed.

"Jo-o!" whined Issy as she flicked her long blonde hair out of her face. "Do-on't!" she said angrily and she collapsed back onto her bed. While Joanna rolled her eyes at her friends laziness.

"Come on, Sky! Wakie Wakie!" Jo was practically screaming in Sky's ear but the asleep Asian seemed quite oblivious to it. So Jo rolled her out of bed and Sky landed with a dull 'thud' on the floor. Joanna bent down to look at Sky, "I don't believe this! She's still asleep!" yelled an astonished Jo, as she stared at the now snoring lump on the floor.

"Yeh, well that's Sky for you." said Amber as she exited the shower, her hair up in a towel.

"Did you know Sky before you came here?" inquired Lily, sitting up in her bed.

"Sorta." was Amber's simple answer.

"What do you mean 'sorta'?" asked Jo.

"Well she lived down the road from me and she went to the same primary school as me, but then when everyone was talking about going to Beladin -a private school that nearly all the girls were going to- She said she was going to some private school in London. And so when I got my letter we started to get to know each other better in the holidays. Anyway back to the topic, yeh she's one hell of a heavy sleeper!" Amber said this all very quickly, and it took Lily a whole minute to process all this new information.

"Ok."

"I'm next in the shower!" called Issy as Lily shut the door behind her.

_**

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**_

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**RoyalTearDrop **- yeh,I decided thatI wanted Lily to meet other people from different houses though, so that it wouldn't be all peachy with all her friends in the same house eg. Allysa and Emirial etc. Sirius and Narcissa are cousins, it says in the fifth book and then Narcissa marries Lucious Malfoy. Bellatrix is also Sirius' cousin and Nacissa's sister and then she marries that Rodolphus Lestrange guy. And there is also Andromeda who is Nymphadora Tonk's mum and Narcissa and Belltrix's sister. Yeh, just thought i'd give you all the facts, thanx for revieweing!_

_please review!_

_laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	6. Down, Down, Down

**CHAPTER: 6 - Down, Down, Down**

The five girls (minus Sky, who was still sleeping) entered the Great Hall for breakfast, sitting down at the table and helping themselves to the large selection of food.

"Mmm, this Hogwarts food is really good!" said Amber as she scooped some cereal into her mouth.

"Yeh." agreed Issy and Lily.

"Wonder what class we have first..." said Joanna thoughtfully as she chewed on a croissant.

"Dunno, but we'll probably be getting timetables or something soon." said Lily.

"Yeh."

"So...." Amber said in a very sad attempt to start conversation.

"So." repeated Issy.

Lily was talking with Miranda and trying to help her English, when suddenly about a hundred owls came soaring into the Great Hall. Miranda looked up and jumped, falling off her seat in the process.

"Anyone would think your muggle-born the way your acting!" Lily laughed at her friends silly behaviour.

"Just so many, I is no' use' to so many..." Miranda said in her strong french accent, as she picked herself up off the floor and dusted herself off. "And I is no' muggle-born, I is pure." she held her head high in the air as if to prove her point.

"Thought so." said Lily as she nodded her head.

She watched as the owls flew to their owners or recipients, dropping letters or parcels into their laps. Lily was quite Surprised when her owl, Hazel, dropped a letter in her lap and began to nibble her toast. Lily opened the letter eagerly;

_Dear Lily,_

_ Hope all is well at this school and your journey was safe! Your father and I miss you dearly, and hope you will return for Christmas. Chloe Campbell called yesterday, letting you know that she has gained a scholarship place at Beladin, and Andrea and Sophie are missing you as well. Petunia has a new boyfriend, Gareth, he is very 'interesting'. Your father got a raise at work, so we treated ourselves to a new COLOUR television. Hope to here from you soon!_

_Mum_

"Tel-vison?" repeated Joanna, blankly.

Lily shook her head, "Don't worry." She folded the letter and put it in her pocket, and continued with her breakfast.

"Timetables!" said the female prefect, as she handed out the timetables.

Joanna groaned, "History of Magic, double Potions with Slytherin, Charms with Ravenclaw and double Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"So? It will be interesting! We haven't even had our first class yet! You might really like one of those subjects!" objected Lily.

"In general, school sucks. I mean we only got here last night, and they're giving us lessons today!"

"So...?"

"So, that sucks." said Jo, rather harshly in Lily's opinion.

"Which teacher do we have?" asked Issy, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

"Professor Binns -"Joanna began reading off the timetable.__

"Daniel -my brother- said that he's a _ghost_!" interrupted Amber, astonished.

"... Professor Drea_,_" continued Joanna, "Professor Wrather and Professor Tanagy." __

"Professor Drea is head of Slytherin and everyone says she favours her own students." Amber informed them.

"Well we'll just have to see now, won't we?" said Joanna.

"Mmm, yeh." Amber said.

"'oo are ze 'eads of ze uzzer 'ouses?" Miranda asked, her accent more noticeable than ever.

"Er ... pardon?" Amber said, confused and apologetically. __

"She said, who are the heads of the other houses?" Jo said_, _scooping fruit onto her plate.

"Oh," said Amber, "sorry, well, Gryffindor'sis McGonagall who teaches Tranfiguration, Hufflepuff's is Krumpleywho teaches Herbology, but my brother says that she's retiring next year, so they'll probably have a new head of house. And then Ravenclaw's is Professor Radcliffe, who teaches Muggle Studies." Amber explained to the four girls (Sky was STILL sleeping), who were listening intently, and she was rather enjoying the attention.

"They have a whole subject devoted to teaching us about _muggles_?!" said Lily astounded.

"Yeh, but it's for all us pure bloods, who know literally nothing about muggles." Sky informed Lily.

"Yeh... but it's still insulting to my intelligence!" Lily complained, half jokingly.

"Well, I think your intelligence can cope." said Jo, ignoring Lily's gaping.

"Anyway ..." Amber went on to tell her friends about all the other subjects, teachers and when she had nearly finished explaining about third year electives, Sky came into the Great Hall.

"Good morning." She said cheerfully.

"Morning." chorused the others.

"Why didn't you wake me?" She frowned.

Jo rolled her eyes, "Trust me, we tried."

* * *

A loud bell rang out through the castle, indicating the end of breakfast and the start of their first class. Lily and the others walked around aimlessly, asking directions from everyone, until they finally found their class ... ten minutes later. The six girls opened the door quietly and snuck into some seat at the back.

"As I was saying, the Goblin Revolution took place in ..." Their history teacher drawled on and on, driving everyone into a sort of stupor, everyone, except Lily. Lily was hanging onto his every word, she had promised herself she was going to study twice as hard as everyone else.

* * *

"Isabelle!" whispered Lily urgently, as she prodded the snoring blonde.

Isabelle suddenly sat bolt upright, "Huh? Wha'?" she said, startled, as her eyes darted around the classroom. The class burst into laughter, but the Professor, it seemed, was not pleased, which was probably why he gave them an essay on their first day.

The bell rang out through the corridors, waking the Gryffindor first-years from the stupor they had sank into. Lily collected her bag, and in her eagerness to get to the next class, she tripped over a tall, black-haired, brown eyed someone.

"Oi!" he yelped, as he fell to the ground in the process.

"Sorry!" Lily said, on the verge of tears, not because she was in any pain.

"Watch it next time, redhead." James said as he lifted himself off the ground and joined his friends.

"D'accord?" asked a concerned Miranda.

Lily wiped away the tears that had escaped, "er... Yeh, I'm fine."

Sky held out her hand to help Lily up, which she took gratefully.

"So, where to next?" asked Issy, as she untangled her hair.

"Dungeons for Potions, how delightful." Jo said, in a tone that implied a feeling, very far from delight.

"Come on, we better hurry, don't want a repeat of this morning." Lily said.

"Yeh, at least we know that we just have to go down and down and down." Amber said, nodding her head every time she said 'down'.

"Yeh." agreed the others, as they followed Amber down the stairs to the dungeons.

**_

* * *

_**

**_REVIEWS:_**

_**Lilykins** - thanx for reviewing!_

_Please review!_

_Laters_

**_limbo-gal_**


	7. What!

**CHAPTER: 7 - What!**

They entered the dungeons, thankfully on time. The six girls took seat near the back of the dungeons behind a group of slytherin girls. Suddenly the professor burst into the dungeons; she wasn't very tall but still remained intimidating. She had light brown hair that hung limp around her face and cold blue eyes that held none of the sparkle or warmth that would be found in Isabelle's deep blue orbs.

"This class does not require silly incantations or foolish wand-waving." she paused as she looked at the class, who were listening in silence to her speech. Professor Drea possessed the ability to keep the class silent without effort. "Many of you will not appreciate the subtle art of potion-making, the beauty of a softly simmering cauldron, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you, to put a stopper, to death." she pronounced each word slowly and in a near whisper, but the class caught her every word.

"As many of you already know, I am Professor Drea; head of Slytherin house, and, of course, potions master."

The class spent the first half of the class copying out notes on potion ingredients and their uses. About half way through the class the professor indicated for them to set up their cauldrons.

"Today we will be making a simple Amorabsimilis potion, the antidote to a love potion (A/N: in Latin amor means love and absimilis means different. oh just if your wondering love potions were allowed then. ... according to me and so were mild forms of truth serum.)

"You will work in pairs." drawled the Professor. "Girl, boy. Naturally." she looked around at the students, some of which were inching away from members of the opposite sex.

"Black - Black," Lily watched as Sirius' smirk grew even wider as he dragged his cauldron in the direction of Narcissa Black, apparently his cousin.

"Dolohov - Bulstrode, Lupin - Evans, Malfoy - Lorearmi, Pettigrew - Mance, Parkinson - Myoora, Potter - Pragasty, Rookwood - Walker, Snape - Walker and Zabiv - Zabini." Lily thought she had gotten a pretty good deal compared to Jo and Miranda, and even Isabelle looked quite taken aback at her chosen partner.

"So." said Remus as he positioned his cauldron next to Lily's.

"So." she repeated.

They spent the rest of the class in silence, only speaking when necessary. The professor, meanwhile, was wandering the classroom, watching the students abysmal attempts at making the potion. Criticising everyone whenever possible, except, Severus Snape, who seemed to have been blessed with the ability of perfect potion-making skills. These were only rivalled by Amber who astonishingly ended up with a perfect Amorabsimilis potion.

Lily looked down at her potion which surprisingly was the same colour as Amber's -the right colour.

"If you have done everything correctly, your potion should be a dark blue and bubbling slightly." she sneered at Peter, who's potion was, unfortunately, a bright yellow and was as still as glass. He gulped.

"Collect a vile from the front and fill it with Amorabsmilis, and bring it to my desk." she instructed, and she waved her wand and 20 viles appeared on her desk.

The class hurried forward to collect a vile, many of them collecting them for their partners as well. When all the viles had been collected by the professor and she had magicked away all their remaining potion, the bell rang out through the dungeons.

* * *

Lily's first week at Hogwarts passed uneventfully. She worked hard, studying at every spare moment. 

"Hey Guys, guess what!" Amber said, as she entered the common room with Sky.

"What?" said Issy.

"Next Wednesday we have flying lessons with Ravenclaw!" Amber said excitedly.

"F- f- flying lessons?" stuttered Miranda.

"Yep!" said Sky, grinning at the thought.

"I cannot fly!" Miranda said, panicking.

"Don't worry," Sky began, giggling, "me 'n Jo will catch you! Won't we Jo?"

No reply.

"Jo?" Sky turned around to face a very pale Jo.

"Are you ok?" asked a concerned Amber.

"I have a ... a ... a fear of heights." Jo explained, Lily looked at her strangely, surely this wasn't the same Jo that had called her a cow for simply mistaking the her quill as Lily's own?

"I as well." Miranda said quietly.

"Both of you!" whined Issy.

"Oui/yes." replied Jo and Miranda sadly.

"But ... but ... you can't!" wailed Sky.

"I can , and I do, so just leave it!" snapped Jo, back to her usual self.

"What's your team?" inquired Amber, dragging their attention away from Jo and Miranda.

"Team?" asked Lily.

"Quidditch team."

"Quidditch?" asked Lily, puzzled.

"Geez, I forgot how much you don't know!" yelped Amber.

Meanwhile Sky was pretending to faint.

"Well," began Issy, "Quidditch is our sport."

"And it's, like, the best sport ever." added Sky.

"Yeh, and like, everyone follows Quidditch." said Jo matter-of-factly, recovering from her speechless state.

"It's kind of like rugby in the muggle world." explained Issy.

"Oh, ok." said Lily.

"Rugby?" asked Sky, frowning.

Lily shook her head in response, "Don't worry."

"And it's played on broomsticks, in the air." continued Issy.

"You have three chasers on each team -" began Amber.

"- and they use the quaffle and score for their team." said Sky.

"And then there's the keeper." added Jo, "and he -"

"Or she." corrected Amber, always the feminist.

"Or she," repeated Jo, "guards the three hoops that the chasers try to score in."

"And then you have two beaters, and they have these bats -"

"like baseball bats." interrupted Issy.

Amber raised her eyebrows, but continued, "and they protect their team from bludgers."

"They're these black balls that try to knock players off their brooms." said Jo, grinning.

"Ouch." said Lily.

"Yeh," agreed Amber, "No-ones ever died though, just a couple of injuries." said Amber.

Lily just gave her a look to show her that that wasn't exactly comforting.

"But that's what the beaters are for." said Sky, twirling her hand in the air.

"And then finally -"

"-there's the seeker-"

"-and they try to catch the golden snitch-"

"-and when they do, the game ends-"

"-and their team gets 150 points-"

"-so they nearly always win."

"Oh, and when the chasers score they get 10 points." added Amber as an after thought.

"Ok..." said Lily slowly, not completely understanding.

"I guess you need to see a game." said Issy sadly as she began filing her nails.

"Mmm."

There was a moment of silence.

"So any of youse play Quidditch?" asked Amber.

"Nah." said Issy.

"Me and Miranda definently don't." said Jo, shaking her head at the mere thought.

"Don' look at me." said Lily, yawning.

"I do, I'm a chaser and I'd love to be on the house team." said Sky sighing, and for the first time Lily noticed her very light welsh accent.

"Are you from Wales?"

"Yeh, so's Amber." Sky shrugged.

"You are? I didn't know that!" Lily was surprised.

"Lily, we've only known each other for a week, you can't expect to know everything." said Jo.

"I guess." said Lily, shrugging.

"Where y'all live anyway? I live in London." said Issy.

"Surrey." said Lily, yawning again.

"Hay-on-Wye." said Sky, frowning at her nails.

"That's on the border of Wales and Britain, right?" commented Lily.

"U-huh." replied Sky.

"For me, it was Liverpool till I was nine, and now it's Hay-on-Wye, too." Amber said in response to Issy's question.

"Joanna and I lived in Pari' till we were nine." said Miranda softly.

"But now we live in Birmingham." supplied Jo.

"Well you learn something new everyday." said Issy.

"Mmm, what about siblings?" asked Amber.

"I'm only a child." said Sky sadly.

"Lucky!" whined Issy, " I've got Ella who's seven and Jake who's nine. They're SO annoying." complained Issy as she ran her fingers through her golden-blonde hair.

"You guys have met Dan, he's thirteen."

"My sister, she's a muggle and she's really mean to me. Petunia, she's three years older than me and she's always ranting and raving about some guy." Lily rolled her eyes and shock her head.

"Only me and Miranda." said Jo happily.

Sky turned her wrist to look at her watch and yelped. "It's already eleven thirty and I haven't even started my potions essay!" whined Sky.

"Here." Amber threw Sky a roll of parchment, "You can copy mine."

"Isn't that, well, cheating?" asked Lily.

Amber rolled her eyes.

"Thanks Amber, you're a life saver." said Sky ignoring Lily's comment, and she began hurriedly coping Amber's completed work.

"Night people." yawned Amber as she ascended the stair case to the dorms.

"Night." chorused the others.

"Actually wait, I'm coming too!" said Lily as she gathered up her homework.

"Mmm, me too." said Miranda, and she joined the two girls and ascended the staircase for bed.

* * *

**_REVIEWS:_**

_**Lilykins** - sorry about that. thanx for reviewing._

_pretty please with sugar on top and cherries and sprinkles and topping, review!_

_Laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	8. Parteners?

**CHAPTER: 8 - Parteners**

"You can't make me!"

"Yes I can!" Jo, Amber and Issy were dragging Miranda through the corridors.

"But Jo, your afraid of heights too!" argued Miranda, trying to wriggle free of her friends' grasp.

"Yeh but," Jo paused, placing a hand on her chin in thought, "you have to face your fears." even as she said this there was a note of doubt in her voice. Jo, Issy and Amber dragged Miranda all the way down to the grounds, only letting her go when Madam Hirsch was in site.

"You know guys, I'm not feeling all that good. Maybe I'll just go up to the hospital wing..." stuttered Jo, as she backed away slowly, once again her weakness whining through.

"No you don't." said Issy, yanking Jo's arm.

"Everyone step up to the left hand side of your broom, stick your right arm out and say 'Up!'" commanded Madam Hirsch.

"What happens if your left handed?" asked a timid brunette Lily recognized as Emma Taylor.

"Then you go to the right side of your broom!" barked Madam Hirsch. Emma backed away a little in fear and scurried away to her broom next to two other Ravenclaws Lily recognised as Darcy Chang and Laura Justy.

Lily stuck her right hand over her broom, "Up!" but the broom only managed to roll around on the ground. Sky's broom had jumped into her hand first go, while Issy and Amber's had after a few go's. Jo and Miranda were just eyeing each other, faces pale, and eventually, with a well argued case, Jo had persuaded Madam Hirsch to let her sister and herself stay firmly on the ground, but Miranda had already fainted.

When Lily had finally got her broom in hand, along with everyone else, Hirsch told them to mount their brooms. She went up and down the rows correcting and praising the students' grip.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, _hard._" said Madam Hirsch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle - three - two - one -" she blew her whistle hard, and Lily watched as everyone slowly kicked off. Lily stamped her foot hard on the ground, she flew a few feet into the air - slowly. She hung their for a moment enjoying the cool summer breeze.

Lily looked around at her fellow students and came to the conclusion that the best fliers among them were James, Sirius, Dominic Andrews, Sky and Rory Thompson; in that order. After a few minutes Madam Hirsch ordered everyone to come to the ground. Some of the students had been doing all weird sort of acrobatics in the air and looked quite disappointed at this, but obeyed all the same.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Lily became aware of many magical objects and lifestyles. She spent most of her free time in the library, with Miranda and/or Emma Taylor. Emma was a muggle-born, like Lily, in fact there were the only two female muggle-borns in the grade. They both had a lot in common; they both thought school was important and boys weren't, hated sports of any kind - muggle or magical, were very bright, had little confidence and both had a strong likeness for romance novels.

It was a cool Saturday morning in October and Lily was in the Library doing her herbology essay with Miranda when Amber and Sky came bouncing into the Library.

"Hey guys!" Amber said cheerfully.

"Ssshhh!" whispered Lily, placing a finger on her lips.

"Oh, sorry!" whispered Amber, lowering her voice ridiculously.

"Well?" asked Lily, annoyed that her herbology essay had to be interrupted.

"What? Oh, yeh. Have you heard?"Amber whispered anxiously.

"Probably not."

"Well, every year there's a Halloween ball held for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th years!"

"So .... we're invited?"

"It's compulsory!" Amber was now struggling to keep her voice at a whisper.

"You sure?" whimpered Lily.

"Yep!"

"A real ball with parteners and... and...." Miranda gulped, "dancing?"

"Yeh, isn't it great! But I gotta go tell Issy and peeps, so cya!" and Amber scurried out of the Library with Sky following her.

"Partners?" whimpered Lily.

* * *

Girls from the junior part of the school could be seen in packs, whispering excitedly among themselves, confirming Lily's worst fear. The ball was real. It was tormenting to watch as the 8th boy strolled confidently over to Miranda.

"Hey Gorgeous, wanna go to the ball with me?"

Miranda stuttered, "um ... well .... you see ..."

"What she's trying to say is plain and simple 'no'" Lily said for the millionth time.

"What? Trying to keep me for yourself?" he scoffed.

Lily just walked off, Miranda in her wake.

"Maybee, we should say ... say 'yes' to one of them..." Miranda suggested.

"As long as they don't come prancing over like the own the world, then yes. But you've gotta admit that all those guys were jerks."

"But that blo-"

"um, hi, I was just wandering if you'd like to come to the ball ... with me?" He was tall, handsome, an didn't look the least bit cocky. Lily could only stutter, but then she realised the question was aimed at Miranda, not her.

"I - I - would like that." Miranda smiled shyly at him.

"It's Marianne, right?" he questioned unsurely.

"Miranda."

"Michael Dats." he returned the smile.

"Well, I'll meet you in the entrance hall around seven?"

"Um ... yeh." Miranda managed to get out through her stuttering.

"Well, cya."

"Bye."

Lily watched as Miranda gazed after Michael, and felt a pang of jealousy. Sure, Miranda was pretty much her best friend, but she also happened to be drop dead gorgeous, and Lily almost hated her for that. Especially since she wasn't.

* * *

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**Lilykins** - everyone has there own opinion of what Lily and James were like, and everyone is entitled to it. so yeh... anyways thanx for your review and sorry about how long it's taken! =(  
  
please review! thanx!_

_Laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	9. Preball Jitters

**CHAPTER: 9 - Preball Jitters**

Gradually the ball had come closer and closer, much to the displeasure of Lily. But it seemed most of her fellow Gryffindor girls were absolutely thrilled by the idea. In fact, Sky had started singing -very out of tune- when Samuel Lewis, a cute Hufflepuff had asked her to the ball. But that was nothing compared to Amber who had pranced around on her bed for an hour, followed by some sort of tribunal dance, when Dominic Andrews, a handsome Ravenclaw had asked her to the ball. It was a well known fact that Issy, the irresistible blonde was going with James Potter, and Sirius Black was literally thrilled when Jo, after an inner debate, had agreed to go to the ball with him. Unfortunately this agreement came with many conditions, such as no physical contact to be made unless absolutely necessary, much to the dismay of Sirius. Lily herself had gained a partner, but only through Miranda. She was going with Joshua Andrews, Michael's best and equally cute friend. It was then that Lily thought that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to enjoy this ball ...

* * *

The Gryffindor girls were in the common room studying, well trying to, for the potions test in a couple of days time.

"No, no, nooooo!" wailed Amber suddenly, gripping her hair at the roots in what looked like an attempt to pull it all out. Meanwhile the others gave her quizzical looks.

"Um... Amber? Are you ok?" Sky asked, tilting her head forwards so she could look Amber in the eye.

"I just realised we don't have dress robes!" Amber exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands around violently.

"And..."

"We don't have any!"

"Yes... we've established that." Sky said slowly, nodding her head.

"But we need them for the ball!" whined Amber jerking her hands around and looking from person to person.

"And where do you expect we're gonna find them? Six of them at that!" replied Issy, giving Amber a look that clearly said 'eh?'.

"Well, we could ... um ... you know ... um ..."

"Exactly!" said Issy exasperately, going back to her work where the others joined her.

Amber had been sitting there looking like a grouchy six-year-old for ten minutes before she came up with a reply. "Aha! I can get Dan to buy us some!" she said triumphantly.

"Yeh, that might work." said Sky thoughtfully, resting her chin on her hands. Issy glared, clearly thinking she had won the argument.

"Yeh, it might." agreed Jo.

"Jo-o! Your supposed to be on my side!" complained Issy.

"I can choose which side I want to be on by myself, thanks." said Jo hotly. They continued to quarrel for about ten minutes, before Lily, fed up with their arguing had screamed at them to stop acting like 4 year olds.

"Now," said Lily, trying very hard to keep her patience, "Amber, we'll tell you what dress robes we want and you can tell Daniel. Issy, Amber is right and Jo is allowed to choose which ever side she wants. Now can you _please be quiet!" _

The others shut up straight away, not wanting to get Lily wound up. Everyone knew that red heads had fiery tempers, spit fires, Amber called them.

* * *

Before they knew it, the ball was upon them. The Gryffindor first year girl's dorm was in havoc. Amber was running around trying to do a million things at once, Issy was trying to do everyone's make-up and hair, which was very hard considering Amber's state. Miranda was pacing back and forth muttering things under her breath in french, while Jo was sitting calmly on the end of her bed, saying soothing words to her sister in an attempt to calm her down. Sky had turned the whole place upside down in an attempt to find her hairbrush and necklace, and Lily was becoming extremely irritable and was now being forced to take deep breaths by Jo. But in the end it all seemed worth it, especially when the six girls looked in the mirror.

Jo and Miranda looked in their element, with their sleek black hair held back in a french braid and their dark turquoise robes bringing out the colour in their eyes. Unfortunately they had both chosen the same colour robes, and neither could be persuaded to change, so in the end they still looked absolutely identical.

Issy looked, if it was possible, more ravishing than usual. Her robes were in her favourite colour, hot pink, which on some would've looked just plain weird, but Issy made it look stylish and dignified.

Amber looked so different from usual, that it was almost impossible to tell it was her. Her usual frizzy hair looked sleek and shiny, cascading down her back in soft curls. Her robes were light purple and matched her nails, make-up and the purple butterfly in her hair.

Sky's robes were the colour of the sky (a/n no pun intended) on a summer's day and contrasted nicely with her short black hair. This gave her a look of casual elegance, making her give off warm and friendly vibes.

Lily looked prettier than usual, but against her friends she was just a blur in the background. Her emerald robes made her eyes sparkle and her hair seem redder than before. Her hair was out, and fell onto her shoulders looking splendid against her robes.

All in all, they thought it was well worth the chaos they went through.

* * *

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**Mione lover** - you should read some more Lily/James fanfics in Lily's POV, they are really good! thanx and thanx for the review  
  
**lilangel114264** - thanx! and i'll try to put more of Sky in it, but it's sorta hard since she isn't really as big of a character as Lily or Miranda, but i will try! thanx for your review!  
  
**Locks of Gold()** - hopefully this is now up to your standards, but if it isn't then i'm not forcing you to read my fanfic!  
  
**Musicizdbest** - thanx for your review!  
  
**oMoRoCcAn PrInCeSso()** - i'm going to try to go through all their years at hogwarts, but i don't know how long that will take but let's hope i get there! thanx for your review!  
  
HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THAT CHAPTER! PLEASE REVIEW! : )_

_Laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	10. Lack Of Common Sense

_**A/n - **Sorry for taking so long to review!! I had a block and couldn't think of anything to write! And then I had all my school work and then I went away for the holidays and I kept putting it off, sorry!!! also I want to apologize now for my crap endings, anyways, hope you like this chapter._

**CHAPTER: 10 - Lack Of Common Sense**

After much persuasion, Miranda had come out of the dormitory, muttering unbelievingly fast under her breath in french. Issy had glided down the dormitory stairs effortlessly to meet James, who looked in absolute awe at having such a gorgeous date. But he recovered smoothly from his eyes-wide-mouth-open state, with a compliment and grin which sent Issy into a fit of giggles. Jo, on the other hand, had trudged down the stairs as though it was the last place she wanted to be. In fact she only gave Sirius a very half-hearted smile when he complimented her, which was followed by a very sulky look. After the two 'couples' had left the common room, the four remanding girls walked slowly down to the great hall. Because if you were going to be late, you might as well do it fashionably.

* * *

Two days later Lily and her friends were still feeling the effects of the Halloween Ball. It was now known that some fourth years had found it very funny to spike the punch. The result being very drunk first, second, third and fourth years, and a very full hospital wing. They had been severely punished for their 'lack of common sense', as Dumbledore put it.

The ball had been reasonably fun until she had to be carried up to the hospital wing by her and Miranda's dates. In fact Lily was the one most affected by the alcohol. Sure, once Issy and Jo found out, they willingly got drunk, but for Lily and Amber it had come as quite a shock to wake up the next day with a splitting headache and a strong urge to vomit. Miranda had luckily escaped, due to Michael's early discovery of the alcohol. Sky had come out on top when her allergy to oranges stopped her from drinking the punch, and she seemed only too happy to rub it in.

"I think I feel better today." yawned Jo as she sat up in bed.

"Me too."

"Mmm, same."

"We have classes today." Sky reminded them.

"What?! Noooo!" whined Amber, falling back onto her bed.

Sky just smirked.

Lily stepped out of the shower, hair up in a towel. "What's the time?"

"Quarter to nine."

"What?!"

"Quarter to nine." Sky repeated, this was followed by Amber, Jo and Issy practically leaping out of bed to get dressed. In an attempt to save time Sky and Miranda were rushing around after their friends to help.

* * *

Twenty minutes later the six Gryffindors arrived in Charms, losing 5 points each for their tardiness. Despite Lily's annoyance at the Professor, she couldn't help enjoy the rest of the class.

Since the class was with Ravenclaw Lily sat with Miranda, Emma Taylor, Darcy Chang and Laura Justy. In fact Lily had become very good friends with Emma; meeting in the library most days, studying, doing homework or discussing the muggle world.

Lily was thoroughly grateful that she wasn't the only female muggle born in the year. Emma and her had a strong friendship being able to discuss things more freely, and having a lot more topics available.

* * *

The castle was getting colder and going outside meant putting on scarves and gloves. Students were getting excited as Christmas approached, along with the Christmas break that came with it. But this was no excuse for the teachers to give out less homework, in fact it seemed to make them give out more than usual.

The Walker twins were able to invite friends over for the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately Sky wasn't able to come, due to her being an only child. Miranda had informed Lily that her house was big, _very _big. She had also said that her cousins were coming too, for Christmas. Lily was still waiting for Hazel to return with her parents reply, but she was pretty sure they'd say yes.

"Finally!" sighed Lily, opening the letter Hazel had brought.

"Can you come?" asked Miranda.

"Yes!"

"Good, it would've been no fun without you."

"Sure, sure."

"Seriously!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"You will like my cousins."

"What are their names?"

"Fleur, Christophe, Paul and Simone."

"Ok. How old are they?" Lily cocked her head to the side.

"Fleur is fourteen, Christophe is twelve, Paul is five and Simone is eleven in May."

"Are ... they all on one side of your family?" inquired Lily.

"Fleur, Christophe and Paul are on my papa's side, and Simone is on my mama's side."

"They sound nice." concluded Lily.

"They are -" Miranda stopped as a beautiful snowy owl dropped a letter in Miranda's lap. She picked it up eagerly and opened it. She frowned as she read it.

"Simone cannot come, her grandpere is ill."

"Sorry to here it."

* * *

Too soon it was Christmas break and Lily was thoroughly excited at being able to spend it with her friends. She was packing her trunk while listening to Sky's whining about how evil and unfair her parents were for not letting her come. Issy was off somewhere with Jo, doing something against the rules no doubt, Amber was sitting silently at the end of her bed reading a book and Miranda was in the library with Emma, Laura and Darcy finishing off some last minute homework.

Amber sighed. "How romantic."

"Finished?" asked Sky, ignoring Amber and looking at Lily's neatly packed trunk.

"Nearly. Amber, isn't that my book?" Lily frowned as she read the cover.

Amber just nodded, her eyes never leaving the page. Lily rolled her eyes and threw the book from her bedside table into her trunk.

"Now?" asked Sky.

"Mhmm." nodded Lily, and she closed her trunk with a bang. "Come on Amber, we got to go."

Amber got up silently, the book still in her hands as her eyes whizzed across the page.

"Didja see Baker's face?!" Lily heard Issy's voice followed by increased laughter.

Jo smiled as she walked into the room, followed by a laughing Issy. Sky just raised her eyebrows at Lily as she tucked her black hair behind her ear.

"Miranda's gonna be up soon, just borrowing a book." Jo said to Lily.

* * *

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**Mione lover** - thx for your review!_

_**AngelSword** - you serious? That's really good ... for classified reasons shifty eyes ... anyway thx for your review!_

_Please review!!!_

_Laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	11. The Walker Estate

**CHAPTER: 11 - The Walker Esatate**

By the time Lily and her companions had boarded the train that was to take them home for Christmas break, it was very full and they were struggling to find a compartment that wasn't occupied.

"Hey guys!" Amber called, "you don't mind if we share, do you?"

Lily and the others shrugged in reply.

"Come here then." said Amber, waving them over.

There were only four boys in the relatively large compartment, one of whom Lily recognised as James Potter, the boy from her dream. James was watching a game of exploding snap between a tall, black haired, black eyed someone and a fairly short boy with straw-like blonde hair and watery blue eyes. The last of the four boys was sitting quietly in a corner reading a book and his dirty blonde hair was falling into his hazel eyes.

"Guys this is Remus, James, Sirius and Peter." Amber announced in a formal manner to which Remus, the boy with the book, replied, "Guys this is Amber and ... ?"

"Sky, Lily, Miranda, Jo and Issy." said Amber, pointing to each of her friends in turn.

They all said a short 'hello' to each other, and then the boys returned to their activities.

* * *

The train ride was fun, mainly because Sirius and James kept making lame jokes and the eight Gryffindors were continuously laughing. There were only eight of them left in the compartment because Jo and Issy had left nearly straight away, and Lily had a faint suspicion that someone was not going to be quite so 'friendly' to the pair of them once they had finished.

Lily had been right, because a few moments later Jo and Issy had burst into the compartment, breathless, probably from running down the train. They were laughing hysterically at something or other and Lily didn't really want to know what.

The train pulled into platform nine and three quarters and Lily and her friends disembarked the train, dragging their cases behind them.

As Lily looked around for Miranda, who she had lost in the crowd, she suddenly feel forwards putting her hands in front of her just in time. Her knee hurt and when she examined it she saw a graze, but that was the least of her worries; James and Sirius were now laughing at her. She picked herself up, her nose in the air and her cheeks stained with colour. But for some reason James and Sirius only laughed harder and as Lily looked around other people were either laughing or pointing at her. Lily was trying to figure out what was so funny when a lady with a stuffed vulture hat came wandering over.

"Your skirt is tucked into your sweater, dear." she said kindly, but while holding back a laugh.

Lily reached behind and hurriedly pulled down her skirt, blushing furiously to the roots of her hair. She cursed herself for having such a strong blush, before hurrying away from the crowd.

"There you are!" called Miranda, "over here!"

Lily dragged her trunk over to Miranda and company.

"Come on Lily, my papa is waiting for us outside." Miranda said, impatience evident in her voice.

* * *

Lily couldn't believe her eyes. In front of her was the biggest house she'd ever layed eyes on. In fact she wasn't even sure it should be called a house, mansion would be more along the right lines.

The twins lead Lily, Amber and Issy up to their rooms. They were both very different.

Jo's room was a mess, with clothes scattered all over the floor. As Lily's eyes scanned over the books on the shelf she noticed that nearly all of them had something to do with Quidditch. Jo's walls were a bright blue but were mostly covered with posters of what Lily assumed were bands, actresses and actors, but on closer inspection Lily saw that they were all of the same seven people.

"The French Quidditch team." Jo explained, "I've supported them since I was six. Maria **(A/N btw I pronounce 'Maria' as _MER_-rie-a, not mar-rie-a) **Gomez is my favourite player; brilliant chaser, she is."

"They've got quite a good team this year." agreed Amber, nodding.

"'specially Gomez." bragged Jo.

"But Wales has Morris."

"Wales is no match for France!" scoffed Jo.

"But zey did beat Bulgaria by many points last week." Miranda commented.

"Come on Miranda, you saw the match last month! France is going to win the cup, no question about it!"

"Yeh right, Wales beat Uganda, and they won the cup last year!"

"Pfft." scoffed Jo, "Lochlun retired at the end of last year, and Uganda is nothing without him."

"They still have McIntyre!" argued Amber.

"He may be a good flier, but he doesn't even know where the god damn hoops are!"

Issy entered the conversation, "Wales? France?No chance... England's got the cup for sure, have you seen _Jason Briggs fly?!"_

"Errr, guys. Lily and moi are just going to go to my room." said Miranda softly as she and Lily quietly crept out of the room.

Miranda's room was hugely different to Jo's. Firstly it was very neat and was painted a light shade of turquoise. Her walls had only three posters; one of what looked like a band called _'White Wendy',_another of the French Quidditch Team and the last was a photo of Miranda with a very butch looking girl with dark blonde hair and olive skin wearing quidditch robes.

"Who's that?"

Miranda looked up from packing her robes into her dresser, "who?"

"Her." Lily poked the picture, which moved away from the point where her finger had come into contact with the photo.

Miranda grinned, "Maria Gomez. You 'eard Joanna talking about 'er."__

"Your house is pretty big." commented Lily.

"It has twenty-two rooms."

_"Twenty-two?!" _

"Would you like a guided tour?" asked Miranda with a smile.

"Would I ever!"

* * *

_**REVIEWS:**_

_**PadfootProngs**- I'm not really sure when I'll have lily and james like talking talkingt to each other, but I want to keep the main action for later on in the story, like 5th year or maybe 4th. I'll prob do something with the dream soon. Thx for your review!_

_**untouched angel** - thx for your review!_

_**stephanos** - smooth steph, smooth. Lol. Anyway your still evil glares but its all good. Thx for the review btw._

_**Jacqui** - awwww, thank you for all the wonderful compliments!_

_**kirst** - well aren't you just lazy then, and stop with the whole cover-up thing, it's... weird._

_**Jess T** - thx for the review._

_**kiRST** - go the drunkness! Feel proud kirst, you get two review replies..._

_**tai-04** - thx, sorry bout not letting Sky come to peeps house for chrissie, but I had to leave someone behind, otherwise it would of been to happiful, and since Sky's an only child ... well yeh, thx for your review!_

_**melly **- melly, melly, melly. Thx._

_**JacquiJack** - yay! Go me! L/J fanfics are heaps good! Thx for your review!_

_thx to all my wonderful reviewers (and friends). Keep reviewing ..._

_Laters_

_**limbo-gal**_


	12. Christmas Eve

_**A/N:** Sorry for taking so long to review -can't believe I've taken 6 months to post this chapter!! i give you all permission to shoot me... and once again i apologise for my crap endings._

**CHAPTER: 12 - Christmas Eve**

There was a room for practically everything, a library, a kitchen, a dinning room, six guest rooms... the list went on. One of the interesting things about the twins' house was that everything seemed to run on magic, and Lily found it all very exciting. Another thing was that the house had a ball room, 'for the balls my mama 'olds', was what Miranda had said.

Overall Lily was sure she was going to enjoy her stay at the Walker Estate.

* * *

"These are my parents." announced Jo as they entered the dinning room for dinner. 

The twins' mother was tall with curly dark brown hair and blue eyes. It wasn't hard to tell where the twins had got their amazing looks from. She looked fairly young, but she gave the impression that she was not someone you ought to mess with. Their father on the other hand was slightly taller with black hair and brown eyes.

"Papa, Mama. Zese are my friends, Isabelle -"

"Issy." corrected Issy automatically.

"- Amber and Lily." Miranda finished.

"Bonjour, mademoiselles. Err... I.... Simone Walker." said the twins mother, quickly and with an obviously confused note in her voice.

"Papa, I fought you 'ad zaid zat Mama would improve 'er Eenglish... ?" Miranda questioned, whispering behind her hand at her father.

"Ah yes, it seems she has not taken a liking to the language."

It was obvious that although the twins' father's first language was, in fact, English, the twins mother had only just started learning the language, and was obviously not finding it easy.

"Mama can't speak Eenglish vairy well, soree."

"It's ok." said Lily, smiling at the fact that Miranda wasn't exactly an expert either.

Dinner was uneventful, but very formal. There were no elbows on the table, no fingers used as cutlery and everyone was sitting up straight taking small bites of their food.

* * *

On Christmas morning, Lily awoke to the sound of the shower in the ensuite and the rustling of wrapping paper. 

"Oh, you're awake." acknowledged Amber, "sorry, I couldn't wait much longer." she said as she indicated towards the pile of opened presents.

"It's ok." Lily groggily sat up and rubbed her eyes, slowly taking in the fact that it was Christmas morning.

"Those are yours."

"Oooo, presents!" Lily made her way over to the pile of un-opened presents that lay under the small Christmas tree that Amber had insisted be put in their room.

She had received a beautiful book on charms from Amber, a pretty charm bracelet and a book (_'So You're Muggle-Born...'_) from Miranda, pink hair chop-sticks and a _Diroset_'s book of hair spells from Sky, _'Diroset's big book of fashion_' and a hair curling potion from Issy, a large assortment of candy from Jo, milk duds and _Emma _**(a/n: Jane Austen's book...)** from Emma and a newly released Beetles album from her parents.

Miranda had exited the bathroom soon after Lily had finished opening her presents.

"My cousins will be 'ere for Christmas dinner." Miranda informed them.

"Ok." said Amber as she threw some Bertie Bott's into her mouth.

"Do any of them speak English?" Lily asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Ah. Paul can't, but Aunt, Uncle and Christophe can. And Fleur; she understands it, but refuses to speak it. She says zat English is a stupid language." Miranda bit on her bottom lip, "But you 'ave Joanna and I to 'elp translate what she says, for you."

Lily laughed, "As long as our sentences are translated properly."

Miranda smiled, "Of course."

"By the way, what is Diroset?" Lily asked Miranda, as she flicked through the book of hair spells from Sky.

"It's a very popular magazine for girls." answered Amber before Miranda could open her mouth.

"Oh."

"The Diroset spell is a very well known cosmetic spell." Issy informed them, appearing in the doorway with Jo.

"Oh." Lily repeated with a blank look on her face.

"Miranda, _la maman dit que ce Mario et Mimi viennent autour après le déjeuner._" Jo said, looking over at Miranda.

"_Et Lucille et les autres?_" questioned Miranda, her brow furrowed.

"_La maman a dit qu'il serait grossier pour les avoir excédent tandis qu'ils sont ici_." Jo replied, a rude tone in her voice.

Miranda sighed, "_Je devine_."

"Er, English?" Issy asked, a confused expression on her face.

Jo laughed, "Two of my friends are coming over after lunch; Mario and Mimi. They're both very high-class muggles, but they're heaps cool -I'm sure you'll like them."

"Do _they _speak English?" Issy asked, a teasing smile on her face.

"Of course!" Said Jo, not picking up on Issy's sarcasm, "They both speak English, French, Italian and Spanish. In fact Mimi is Italian and Mario; French. They only came to -"

"Ok, ok! I didn't ask for their life story!" Issy said impatiently. "Now... who's up for cooking breakfast?"

* * *

Mario and Mimi turned out to be extremely nice. They even brought gifts over for Lily and the others. It was apparent that although Jo was great friends with them, Miranda seemed a bit out of place, finding more comfort in conversing quietly with Mario's older brother, Maurice. 

Mario and Maurice were actually quite different in looks, apart from their tanned skin and long pointed faces. They were both very different in height and build, and while Maurice had black hair and blue eyes, Mario had dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. Maurice was also better looking than Mario, but it seemed their was no obvious sibling rivalry. Mario was also fairly accident prone, but managed to always laugh off his misfortune with joke and a grin. Mimi on the other hand was tall, graceful and made everything appear effortless. Her curly black hair and olive skin made her look every bit the Italian celebrity she was. According to Miranda, Mimi was a star in the making, having started acting and modelling two years ago.

Unfortunately, Mimi, Mario and Maurice couldn't stay long and were soon called home. But not before the twins mother could give them Christmas presents addressed to 'Mimi Iona Tontella', 'Mario Alexande Alleon' and 'Maurice Nicolas Alleon'.

* * *

At 5 o'clock, the twins' cousins and aunt and uncle arrived, all wrapped in fur coats. 

"And where are my two delightful nieces?" cried the twins aunt, looking around eagerly.

"Hello Aunt Marie." chorused the twins, sighing.

"My, how you've grown!" she said as swept the twins into a bone crushing hug.

"_Maman, les a laissés souffle_." **(A/n: Mama, let them breath) **said a tall girl of about thirteen, as she took off her heavy fur coat.

"Fleur." her mother scolded, as she pulled away from the twins, "I thought I told you to help your brothers."

"_Paul joue dans la neige et Christophe est toujours dans... Limoteen? Il le trouve fasciner fortement_" **(A/n: Paul is playing in the snow and Christophe** **is in the... Limoteen?** **He finds it highly fascinating...) **she commented, rolling her eyes. "_Je ne comprends pas pourquoi nous ne pourrions pas floo simplement ici..._" **(A/n: I don't understand why we couldn't just floo here...) **and she stormed off in a huff, her caramel-brown locks swishing behind her.

"Zat was Fleur, as you may 'ave noticed." Miranda informed Lily, a regretful tone in her voice. "She turned thirteen last week, and believes zat being a teenager gives 'er ze right to parade around ze place like she owns it."

Amber and Lily laughed, "Typical teenager, huh?"Amber commented with a grin.

Miranda just smiled.

"Mianda!"

Miranda was suddenly grabbed around the waist by a small boy of about five, who was covered in snow. He looked up at Miranda with big brown eyes, a large grin adorning his face.

"Paul," greeted Miranda, "_Je ne vous ai pas vu depuis Pâques!_" **(A/n: I have not seen you since Easter!) **Miranda said, smiling down at the younger boy.

"How old are you?"Amber asked, bending down to the boys eye level.

Paul looked shyly up at Amber and Lily before detaching himself form Miranda's waist. He stuck his tongue out in thought and held up five fingers, "cinq." **(A/n: five) **he said softly.

"Don''worree Amber, 'e is very nervous around strangers." Miranda comforted Amber. Lily was about to speak, when a loud 'bang' came from the kitchen. With a quick glance at each other, they hurried down the corridor and down the stairs to face a hysterical Jo and a shocked Issy.

At first Lily believed Jo to be crying, but on closer inspection Jo was actually laughing so hard she had tears running down her cheeks. Issy, on the other hand, was covered from head to toe in flour and egg white.Miranda just stood their gaping at the sight in front of herwhile Amber and Lily couldn't help but let a small giggle pass their lips.

The door on the other side of the room burst open to reveal the twins' motherand their aunt. Both were shaking their heads furiously at Jo, whose laughter was the only sound in the room

"Joanna Chloe-Michelle Walker!" Their mother shrieked, silencing Jo's hysterical laughter. "_Comment défi vous! Regardez ce désordre, ce qui vous vous pensent faisaient?!_" **(A/n: how _dare_ you! Look at this mess, what do you think you were doing?!) **she paused, only to hear a snort of laughter from Jo, "_Annonce que vous pensez que c'est drôle?! Partout votre pauvre ami aussi bien! Votre soeur ne ferait jamais n'importe quoi de pareil... Attendez jusqu'à ce que votre père devienne à la maison! Ce que la volonté il indiquent... _"**(A/n: And you think this is funny?! All over your poor friend as well! Your sister would never do anything like this... Wait until your father gets home! What will he say...) **As the twins mother continued her rant, Lily, Amber, Miranda and Paul slowly exited the room.

Dinner, however, ran smoothly and after the goodbyes between the two families, it was time to go to bed.

* * *

**_REVIEWS:_**

_**Nayda **- thanx for your review, and you probably can hex me now..._

_**EyesofEmerald** - go LJ fics! yours is heaps good and thankfully you update yours ....unlike me! and i'd like to apologise for using internet lingo, i just talk heaps on msn and im too lazy to type things properly... hope there's none here though! and i believe that lily and james were just ordinary people who just really loved each other, so i'm gonna try and make my story seem close to reality. thanx again!_

_**tai-04 **- thank for ur review and their are no 'pairings' between the marauders and lily's friends, simply because i don't believe in happy endings._

_**kirst** - thanx kirstie, and i know you've already read this, but yeh..._

_**JacquiJack** - really sorry for the lateness, hope you can forgive me! and thanx for your review!_

_**UniMyth** - lol, i just randomly chose the birthday... but hey, and yes i know i use netspeak... it's quite sad really, i've started saying 'lol' in real life! anyways, thanx for your review!_

_**jachie** - yeh, yeh -go shoot me, terrorize me, hopefully i'll write faster.... _

_thank you so much for reviewing, i'm not worthy! send me some emails, it'll help me write faster... i've made the goal to finish first year by the end of this year! hopefully i can reach it!_

_laters_

**_Limbo-gal_**


	13. Pillow Fights And Midnight Talks

_**A/N: **ok, so maybe i didn't finish their first year before 2005... please don't hurt me!! I have **all** the main plot points in my story but it's just the inbetween stuff that is hard, so please bear with me! hope you enjoy this chapter!_

**CHAPTER: 13 -Pillow Fights and Midnight Talks**

"I can't believe that Mama stopped my allowance!" complained Jo, stomping down the hallway and collapsing onto her bed.

"You did cover your kitchen in flour and eggs." said Amber smartly.

"What _were_ you doing?" asked Miranda from her position on the floor.

"Making a cake?" Jo suggested, while Lily just raised her eyebrows. "Fine. Issy was just getting a snack and I thought it'd be funny to cover her in flour."

"And the eggs?"

"I knocked them over when reaching for the flour..."

"Strange." Amber muttered.

"Oh, shut up." Jo snapped.

"Geez, no need to get defensive." said Amber, holding her hands up in defence.

Lily opened her mouth to speak when Issy walked through the door, her hair slightly damp from the shower she'd just had.

"So, what's happening?" asked Issy as she positioned herself comfortably on Jo's bed.

"I don't know." shrugged Jo, staring at the ceiling while examining a strand of her hair. "Pass me the scissors."

"Me?" asked Lily, pointing to herself.

"No, the magical leprechaun sitting on my dresser." said Jo, sarcasm evident in her voice, "Yes, you!"

Lily jumped and hurried to Jo's desk, grabbing the scissors quickly and handing them to Jo. Jo snatched the scissors and proceeded to cut random strands of her hair.

"Split ends." Issy explained.

"Shut up." snapped Jo and she threw the scissors at Issy.

"Jo!" shrieked Issy, "That nearly hit my head!"

Jo just shrugged in reply, as she slowly moved into a sitting position on her bed.

"Jo, you could've really hurt Issy." said Amber, worry etched through her features.

"Yeh, yeh." said Jo, as she reached for one of the many red pillows scattered upon her bed.

"Does anyone have the ti-" Lily was cut off as a pillow collided with the side of her head. "Ow! Jo! What was that for?"

Jo pretended to be in deep thought, but was then thwacked on top of her head by Issy who had seized as many pillows as possible.

"Friends..." Miranda began, as Jo and Issy gave each other maniac grins before leaping onto Miranda and attacking her with pillows, blankets and Jo's blue beanbag. Lily and Amber joined in the fun by trying to protect Miranda and soon a pillow war had broken out; Issy and Jo against Miranda, Amber and Lily.

Miranda was taken hostage and was placed under a massive pile of pillows and blankets. Lily and Amber entered the vicinity that Jo and Issy had claimed as 'their territory'.

"Hey, guys?" Lily said, her hands held up high as a symbol of surrender, "I don't think Miranda can breath very well." Jo looked down at the pile of linen beneath her, and with a sigh she got up and let her sister untangle herself from the pillows and blankets. Meanwhile the room had been filled with feathers, most of which unfortunately seemed to be floating about in the air. When Miranda finally got up, gasping for air, she noticed Issy's distressing hair and feel to the ground in a fit of giggles.

"Jo, do something! My hair's going static!" An annoyed Issy batted at the golden blonde strands that kept floating up into the air. Jo didn't reply, probably due to the fact that her hair was, as well, a distressing sight.

"Am-ber!" whined Issy as she fought to keep the feathers out of her hair.

Amber didn't reply. This wasn't a surprise, as she was laughing too hard to even speak at the sight before her. In the end, it was Lily who had to repair all the pillows and de-staticify Issy and Jo's distressing hair.

* * *

By the time the five girls had calmed down from their pillow fight, it was 11:30. A perfect time, Jo had said, to tell spooky stories and spill people's secrets.

Armed with a million different kinds of sweets and stories to make you scream, the girls gathered in a circle in Jo's room.

"Ok, I'll go first." announced Issy as Jo passed her the flashlight. "Ahem. A newly wedded couple were driving along a road in the middle of the night, when they get a flat tire. The husba-"

"Hey! This is a muggle story!" complained Jo.

The others just glared at her and Issy continued.

"The husband steers the car to the side of the road and examines the tire. He then tells his wife to stay in the car while he goes and tries to find a petrol station or something of the like. The wife starts to get bored after a while and turns the radio on. She's listening to...um..."

"_No No Song? _By Ringo Starr?" suggested Lily.

"Yeh, anyway, when the song finishes there is an announcement; _'we urge everyone to stay inside their homes, as the London Police have just reported that a homicidal maniac_ _has escaped from London Prison.' ._ So the wife gets scared and turns down the radio. She then looks at her watch and realizes that her husbands been gone for nearly two hours. Then she hears a 'bang' on her roof, followed by a scraping sound. The wife just figures it's the tree branches on her roof or somethin', so she turns the radio up and continues listening."

Amber coughed.

"She's nearly falling asleep when she hears a tap on her window. She turns, frightened, to see a copper looking through the window. So she winds down the window and the copper says to her, he says 'Hey miss, would you please step out o' your car.' and the wife says 'Why?' and the copper's like 'Please, miss. An' don't look be'ind you.'. And the wife just does as she's told, 'cept she gets curious and turns behind her and she screams, she does. 'Cause there, behind her on the top of her car, is this scary maniac holding her husband's head in his hands, and beside him is her husband's body. And the wife, you know, she died of shock." Issy finished, somewhat less dramatically than she had started off.

Jo just looked at Issy with her eyes wide and her mouth open before bursting into laughter, needing to be silenced by Miranda's 'Sshh!'.

"That,"Jo began, "Is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard."

Issy looked offended, but said, "Fine, if you think you can do better." and so began the ghost story war.

* * *

It didn't take Lily and the others very long to get bored of the ghost stories that Issy and Jo were telling and before long they were having their own discussion.

"'ow do you enjoy my 'ome?" asked Miranda.

"Oh, it's amazing!" gushed Amber, "Pity Sky isn't here though."

"Mmm." acknowledged Lily, fiddling with the tassels on Miranda's curtains.

"Wish I had a room like this." Amber gazed enviously around Miranda's room before her eyes came to rest upon a pack of exploding snap cards. "Wanna play?"

Exploding snap turned out to be a very boring game at one in the morning, so the three girls settled for asking random questions and eating chocolates and Bertie Botts.

"I like... purple." muttered Amber sleepily.

"That's nice." Lily said as she lay down on Miranda's very large, very comfortable bed.

"Do you like Michael?"

Lily looked across at Amber, a confused expression on her face. Amber noticed this, "Not you -Miranda."

"Ah."

"Moi? 'E is just a friend and a very nice boy."

"You sure? Sounds like a case of denial, if you ask me." commented Lily with a small smile.

Miranda gave Lily a look, before rolling her eyes and saying, "You should not be talking."

"Yeh," agreed Amber, "what about James, Lily?"

Lily blushed at the implication of Amber's words. She had noticed James' rather good looks and he was a fairly nice guy, although he had a tendency to show off. But as Isabelle had said, he had good reason to.

"Oh, Lily! You're so obvious." Amber shook her head, giggling softly.

"Shut up," Lily muttered before begrudgingly admitting the obvious, "fine. I like him. But promise you won't tell anyone?"

Amber and Miranda both giggled, "Promise!"

* * *

**_REVIEWS:_**

**_untouched angel_** _- thank you heaps for your review!_

**_Jersey Princess_** _- thanx for your reviews! yeh sure, i don't mind you using my dream idea. I'm trying to make Lily slowly forget about the dream, and then much later on the dream will come back and it's relevance will be understood. I'm also making the story _completely _from Lily's POV, so that we only understand her feelings. And yes, the whole chapter with the ball was just to introduce Michael. also... i'm completely at a loss to what 'KIU' is...? I'm also thinking about skipping to second year in the next chapter... maybe... If i do speed to second year in the next chapter, then there will be some LJ action... just maybe not the kind you want... ._

_I'm kinda lacking in the motivation to update... i often start chapters and have most of them written and then i never get round to finishing them!! so emails and reviews are always good encouragement!_

_laters_

**_Limbo-gal_**


	14. A Not So Secret sSecret

_**A/n: **wow! look at that! this chapter is up heaps earlier than i expected! . Big hugs to my beta!! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!! Read..._

**CHAPTER: 14 - A not so Secret Secret**

The end of first year had come and gone and the yearly exams had been successfully completed with Emma Taylor coming first in the grade. Ravenclaw had won the Quidditch cup and Slytherin had been awarded the house cup. The summer holidays had disappeared much too quickly, much to the dismay of Lily and her fellow Hogswartians.

* * *

Lily stood on Platform nine and three quarters awaiting the arrival of her friends. She hadn't seen any of them since the end of first year. She had received many letters though, especially on her birthday. 

"Lily!" Lily turned around to face Amber and Sky who quickly engulfed her in a hug. Once Lily was released from the hug she looked at her friends; Amber looked exactly the same and Sky had had her hair cut.

"How was your summer?" Sky asked eagerly.

Lily shrugged, "Quite boring actually." Amber grinned and started telling Lily all about her holidays and how her cousins, Patrick and Lauren, had come to visit. It was fairly amazing how Amber could make even the most boring event sound thrilling and exciting simply by adding a few well placed grins, winks and jokes. Lily was listening attentively to Amber's story of how her cousins had managed to persuade her brother that the Quidditch World Cup wasn't going to be held this year, when a pair of soft-skinned hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" the owner of the two hands said.

"Jo?"guessed Lily as she reached her hands up to her eyes.

The person behind her giggled, "Oh Lily! Do I really sound that different?"

"Miranda?" asked Lily astonished as she discovered the owner of the voice was none other then her best friend Miranda. "Your accent –It's gone!"

Miranda giggled again and removed her hands from Lily's eyes, "I tried not to speak French all summer and it certainly helped."

Sky let out a muffled giggle and said with a smile, "Mmm, now you just sound like an upper-class snob." And was promptly thwacked on the head by Jo, "Miranda and I do _not _sound like _snobs_."

"Ow," whined Sky, "That hurt."

"Good. It was supposed to," said Jo as she held her head up high, "Where's Issy?" She was met with shrugs and blank looks.

"Jo-o," whined Sky again, "This _really_ hurts!"

"Oh, quit your whingeing," Jo snapped, "Now where is that girl?"

"She'll be here. Don't worry," comforted Amber, and as if on cue, Issy suddenly appeared from the sea of people on the platform.

"Youse wouldn't happen to be looking for me by any chance?" asked the blonde with a sly grin evident on her perfectly tanned face.

With Jo bragging about her holiday to Spain and Sky still complaining, the girls went in search for a compartment on the rapidly filling train. After a quick search and few 'hello's' to people they knew (or in Jo's case, people she was supposed to know), they collapsed into a compartment that smelt like cheese at the rear of the train.

"I am _so _getting Papa to put a weightless charm on this next time," grumbled Jo, kicking her trunk in a supposed effort to prove her point, only causing herself severe pain in her right foot.

Ignoring her now infuriated twin, Miranda initiated a conversation, "Does anyone know any of the first years this year?"

"Allysa Matthew's brother, Lee," supplied Amber.

"Allysa Matthews..." Lily echoed while she scratched her nose, "Tall skinny girl with dark brown curly hair, right?"

"Yup," confirmed Amber, "She's a Hufflepuff. Nice girl."

"I could really go for some chips right about now. Nice hot, salty chips," announced Issy.

Amber and Sky glanced at one another, "Okay...."

"Why don't you go find the food trolley, then? You're practically drooling," said Lily with disgust.

Issy snapped out of her dreamy state and said with defiance, "You know what? I think I'll go and do just that. Coming, Jo?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

After the departure of Jo and Issy, the remaining four girls played a few rounds of Exploding Snap before they were interrupted by the intrusion of four boys.

"Can we help you?" inquired Amber as she began dealing out the cards for a new round. Lily was trying her hardest to ignore the presence of a certain someone she had admitted many a time to having a crush on.

"We just wanted to know if something was true," remarked Sirius, crossing his arms across his chest.

Amber paused, obviously waiting for Sirius to continue, "Well?" she asked, after the silence had become too much.

Sirius grinned cheekily and said, "We wanted to confirm that a certain red-head likes Jamsie here." Lily nearly choked on her own saliva as she gave the boys standing in the doorway a bewildered look. Amber meanwhile, was hurriedly dealing out the cards as though she hadn't heard what had just been said.

"W-what?" stammered Lily, which only caused Sirius' grin to grow larger.

"We wanted to confirm that a certain red-head, aka you, likes Jamsie here," Sirius repeated. Lily's head spun around to face Amber who was pretending to be oblivious of the commotion now starting in the compartment. "Amber," growled Lily, but before she could say anything more Sirius let out a triumphant cry, "Aha! So it _is _true!"

"Who told you?" asked a curious Miranda.

"Well," began Sirius, "I heard from Lucinda, who heard from Emirial, who heard from Allysa, who heard from Amber."

"So Lily," James drawled, a smug grin adorning his face, "Interested in a little date?" Lily was drawn between making a run for it and saying yes. Of course strangling Amber was also another very appealing option, but Lily thought she'd save that for later. Too many witnesses, you know?

Lily replied in a strangled voice, "I, um, yeh, I mean, yes."

"Great," said James, "Meet you in the main entrance at seven on the sixth."

* * *

The train eventually arrived at it's destination and the six girls, along with the rest of the student body, got off the train. 

"How do you suppose we get to Hogwarts? The boats are only for first years," said Issy questioningly.

Jo shrugged in reply, "Just follow the crowd, I guess."

After a quick walk to the end of the platform, the girls discovered many carriages, a few of them slowly making their way up the hill to Hogwarts. Amber let out a gasp as she turned away from Sky to face the carriages.

Sky looked over at Amber, a concerned look on her oriental features, "What is it?"

Amber just pointed and gaped at the carriages. Her friends looked back and forth between the two. "Can't you see them?" questioned Amber as she frowned her eyebrows in confusion.

"See _what_?" demanded Jo. Amber opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head and muttering, "never mind."

Issy and Jo, doubting Amber's sanity, quickly hurried forward and claimed a carriage, holding the doors open for the others to climb in. Silence engulfed the carriage as it jerked forward and begun it's bumpy journey up to the castle.

* * *

The sorting went quickly and dinner, even quicker. The new head and deputy head students were announced (Holly Andrews and Rupert Cooleria; both siblings of fellow second years and Delta Mamory and Harry Paxton), and all too soon the female Gryffindor second years were back in their dormitory falling asleep one by one. Their second year now begun. 

**_

* * *

_**

**_Reviews_**

_**Alana-Lou - **here's your update, probably my fastest so far! I'm flattered that you're more addicted to my story than the actual books! Thank you for your review._

_**Runaway6 - **thanx for your review!_

_**jennifer - **lol.... thanx for your review, hopefully you can get to this chapter! ._

_**Jersey Princess -** thanx heaps for your review! and i will KIU, lol. I'll look out for your story!_

_I'm going away today for a week, and usually when i go there we go once a year a get heaps of writing done, so hopefully when i get back I'll have a nice long chapter, or maybe even two or three! . Review please! _

_laters_

**_Limbo-gal_**


	15. Earning Some Respect

_**A/n: **sorry, I had some trouble moving this chapter from my parents' laptop to my computer, and then it went via my beta and then I needed to change things... and well, you get the idea. Hope you enjoy this chapter!!_

**CHAPTER: 15 - Earning Some Respect**

The morning of September 6th dawned and a very excited second year Gryffindor awoke. "Miranda! Wake up, wake up!" cried Lily as she pulled back the hangings of her best friends bed

"Lily," groaned Miranda, "it's barely sunrise yet!"

Lily ignored her and, humming loudly, she skipped to the bathroom to have a shower.

* * *

Amber, Sky and Miranda were sitting in the common room working on their transfiguration homework. The noises of the other students playing games, talking and laughing, filled the Common Room. Amber set down her quill and sighed, "Lily sure looked happy this morning." 

"What do you expect?" countered Sky, "she's going out on a date with the boy she likes."

"But don't you think – Hey Lily."

Lily sat down gingerly in a comfy red arm chair next to Miranda and raised a suspicious eyebrow at Amber, something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately. But Amber was already looking back down at her work and writing away. Ignoring her, Lily turned to Miranda, a huge smile adorning her face, "Can you help me get ready, Miranda?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," replied Miranda without looking up.

"Ooo! Can I help? Please?" pleaded Amber.

Lily looked dubious but gave a small nod, "As long as you don't put any of that gloop you call make-up on my face."

Amber gave Lily a toothy grin in response, confirming Lily's suspicions, "Amber …" warned Lily.

"Ok, ok," said the brunette reluctantly, "What time are you meeting him, anyway?"

"Seven – and don't look at me like that, it's creepy."

Amber stopped her maniac smiling immediately, "Seven?!" she repeated.

"Seven."

"Sky, what's the time?" she asked urgently. Sky finished writing her paragraph and reached into her cloak for a silver pendant-like object. She looked at the weird numbers and symbols, obviously making sense of it all, and said, "Four fifty two."

Amber let out a shocked 'oh my' before dragging Lily upstairs, followed closely by Miranda, leaving behind a very confused Sky.

"Shower, now," ordered Amber.

"I had one this morning," reminded Lily. Amber leant towards Lily, grabbed a handful of her robes and sniffed them in a very unladylike manner. "You stink," she said, "Shower, now."

Lily rolled her eyes and shaking her head, she mumbled, "subtlety never was one of your strong suits," and she walked towards the bathroom, muttering about crazy people and having to share a room with them.

Two hours later, Lily, showered, dressed and ready, walked down to the entrance hall accompanied by Amber. They waited for barely a minute before Amber, the silence irritating her tremendously said, "It's raining."

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes, "Thank-you, Captain obvious."

Amber ignored her and started looking around the entrance hall as though she would find something more interesting than Lily on the ceiling or on the walls.

"Hey," said Amber, "what's that?"

Lily looked at where Amber was pointing to a small piece of parchment that was sticky taped to the wall. The two girls took a few steps towards the piece of parchment to examine it.

_L.E.,_

_Meet me under the big willow tree next to the lake._

_-J.P._

"It's raining," said Amber again.

"Yes, Amber, I know," said Lily exasperatedly.

"Are you going to go outside? To the willow?" asked Amber.

"Of course," said Lily as though it were more obvious than the nose on her face.

Amber gave Lily a look which she successfully ignored or, as Amber assumed, she was completely oblivious to the fact that Amber was even there anymore. For Lily had started humming a song that Amber could not recognise and was dancing about as though creating her own ballet.

"Maybe we're going to go for a romantic walk around the grounds," said Lily, a dreamy expression on her face, "Or maybe we're going to sneak off to Hogsmeade."

Amber wrapped her arms around herself, "I'd actually prefer to stay inside," she said quietly.

But Lily wasn't listening; she was clutching the note in her hands as though it was the most important thing in the world. "I'm going outside," she said finally.

Amber took one last glance out the tall glass windows before giving Lily a look that clearly said, 'better you than me,' and wishing her luck, started her journey back up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Lily pushed the large oak doors open, hearing the pitter patter of the rain grow suddenly louder. As the doors shut slowly behind her, she pulled her jacket tightly around her and half walked, half ran, towards the beautiful large willow tree by the lake.

* * *

James Potter was relaxing in the warm, dry grand hall surrounded by girls from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Dinner had just finished and the pink wristwatch on one of the girls' wrists told him that the time was eight thirty. He was talking to a particular pretty blonde when the large oak front doors could be heard slamming. An enraged redhead stormed into the great hall and walked straight up to James and slapped him. Hard. 

The girls around him shrieked and looked at Lily as though she was a homicidal maniac, and began backing away from her. Sirius Black, on the other hand, let out a bark of laughter and watched the scene unfold with amusement.

Lily pushed her soaking wet hair out of her face and breathing heavily said, "That, is for standing me up," she slapped him again, "that is for leading me on, and this," she punched him in the mouth, "is for making a fool of me."

James held his hands to his cheek and jaw and looked up at Lily with disbelief. The only sound in the Great Hall was the manic laughter coming from Sirius and the steady 'drip drip' as the water from Lily's robes made a puddle on the floor. Lily sniffed and, shivering violently from the cold, stormed out of the great hall, luckily not hearing Sirius' comment to James.

"Maybe you shouldn't have asked her on that fake date, would've caused you a lot less pain..."

She continued up to the Gryffindor Tower, not noticing the shocked, amazed and even admiring looks people were giving her. Who was this fiery redhead that had slapped James Potter? _The _James Potter, the one whose parents were brilliant and well-known Aurors, the James Potter whose four storey manor was one of the biggest in the country and worth a fortune.

Lillian Amanda Evans had definitely earned some respect.

Lily flopped into one of the chairs by the fire and kicked her sopping wet shoes and socks off. She sat, mesmerized by the flames, for what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes. How could James have been so cruel? How could she have been so stupid?

"Lily?"

James Potter was going to pay, he had to pay.

"Lily?"

And she was the one who was going to make him suffer.

"_Lily_!"

Lily snapped back to reality and said stupidly, "Potatoes."

Miranda, Amber and Sky looked at Lily as though doubting her sanity.

"Are you ok? You look kind of wet," said Miranda with concern. Lily noticed that Amber, Sky and Miranda were all looking at her with concern and confusion, whereas Jo and Issy were looking just plain shocked.

"Potter stood me up," said Lily in a monotonous voice.

"Oh Lily," said Amber kindly.

Issy and Jo both looked at Lily carefully. "She slapped him," said Jo.

"Twice," confirmed Issy, "and then slugged him one."

Amber's look of pity changed rapidly to a look of amazement, "Wow."

"I hate him," said Lily.

"Maybe it was an accident?" suggested Sky.

"He could have forgotten," said Miranda.

"That's almost as bad as if he did do it on purpose," protested Amber.

"He asked me out as a joke," Lily informed the others, who quickly broke into furious chatter,

pausing as they heard the sound of a quill being snapped. Lily looked straight into the flames, strong hatred and deep hurt evident in her eyes, and said with fury, "I _loathe _James Potter."

* * *

**_Reviews_**

_**beyonce-85 - **thanx for your review!_

_**Lila Gallagher - **I'm really sorry about that, it's just that my friend, who Issy is based on, says 'youse' alot. But I'm not going to use it any more, it seems to annoy people... Thanx for your input and review!_

_**Jersey Princess - **yeh.... sorry about that. Your story was very nice, thanx for your review!_

_**Kirst -** thanx kirst! _

_The next chappie is underway, I suddenly have lots of inspiration to write more --let's hope it lasts! And please review!_

_laters_

**_Limbo-gal_**


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